Ships ahoy on the River Tyne 25 years ago
OUR front page Nostalgia image recalls the bustling scene on the River Tyne at Newcastle 25 years ago.
The Tall Ships Race returned to Tyneside in 1993. Tens of thousands of people descended on the Quayside as it played host to dozens of spectacular sailing ships in the prestigious annual European maritime event.
The Tall Ships had first arrived on the Tyne in 1985, and they would come back in 2005. The event would also grace Sunderland, Blyth and Hartlepool in later years.
Using the picture archive of the Sunday Sun, we turn the clock back to 1993 to give a taste of what was going on in the North East.
For football fans on Tyneside, things were getting very exciting.
Twelve months after the Magpies narrowly escaped dropping into the old Third Division for the first time in their history, incoming manager Kevin Keegan had masterminded a stunning turnaround which saw the club march triumphantly back to the top flight.
And, with St James’ Park packed out for every game as the 1993-94 season progressed, Keegan’s buccaneering side not only managed to survive in the Premier League, but went on to finish third and qualify for Europe for the first time since 1977.
In the wider world, there was bleak news.
In February, Britain was shocked to the core by the brutal murder of Liverpool toddler James Bulger. National soul-searching intensified when it was learned the killers were, in fact, two ten-yearold boys.
The shadow of the Northern Ireland troubles still loomed large, and an IRA bomb blast in Warrington killed two children and injured 50 people.
Another IRA bomb exploded in Bishopsgate in the city of London, causing millions of pounds worth of damage, killing one person, and injuring nearly 50 others.
In other news, 1993 saw Buckingham Palace open to tourists for the first time; the Grand National at Aintree was abandoned in chaos after a series of false starts; and Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s dismissal of England’s Mike Gatting was described as the “ball of the century”.
In the United Kingdom, John Major was Prime Minister; in the United States, Bill Clinton was President; in Russia, Boris Yeltsin was General Secretary; and in France, François Mitterrand was President.
In the world of entertainment, Mariah Carey, Nirvana and REM were among the leading music acts, while the year’s biggest movies included Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Mrs Doubtfire.
At a time when the average price of a house in the UK was £69,000, and petrol was £2.30 a gallon, these were just some of the things happening in 1993.